I never pursued anything after looking the bike over. I have a couple other bikes that are requiring attention this winter so the old Russian bike didn't fit in.
The bike is still right where I saw it and probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The owner has never actively tried to sell it. He called me on a whim to look it over. I couldn't really get him to throw a price out....other than the $2 grand he turned down from someone else when he thought it was a BMW. I let him know what I thought the bike was, and told him the value was way below that of a BMW of the same vintage. I didn't want to insult him with any low ball offer so kept my mouth shut.
He never did have the tub for it, just the side car frame and a wheel / tire for it sitting on the porch.
I think the carbs had an "M something" on them. They looked like the old 50's Bings but I'm pretty sure they were not Bings....no "Bing" markings on them anyway. There were serial numbers stamped on the frame and engine. The serial numbers were very large (tall) and stamped crudely....not even in a straight line. I didn't notice any "star" type stampings anywhere.

Well, you've built some pretty cool projects! I perused your site and posts alot when I was putting my airhead outfit together. I'm having fun now with a rolling basket case M72, so I hate seeing them neglected and lonely like this one. Hopefully all the attention here will get someone interested- thanks for the posts!

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The ladies used to check me out...now they just keep an eye on me.